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Monday, October 16, 2006

Help Nazanin!

On January 3, 2006, 18-year-old Nazanin Mahabad Fatehi was sentenced to death for murder by court in Iran after she stabbed one of three men who attempted to rape her and her 16-year-old niece in a park in Karaj (a suburb of Tehran) in March 2005. She was seventeen at the time. Iran is signatory to international treaties which forbid them to execute any one under the age of 18; however they continue to do so.

The injustice of this case propelled Nazanin Afshin-Jam to take immediate action and start a petition to help save the life of her namesake. The petition now has over 200 000 signatures from around the world.

Since initiating the Save Nazanin Campaign with Mina Ahadi- the Head of the International Committee Against Execution and Stoning- and through the help of other human rights groups and individuals, they have been able to engage the UN, Canadian Parliament, the EU, Amnesty International and others to pressure the Iranian Officials to spare the life of this child.

On June 1st 2006, the Head of Judiciary Ayatollah Shahroudi announced a stay of execution and the call for a complete new retrial. Nazanin Fatehi’s retrial will take place at the end of August.In this new trial the Islamic Republic Court will either: a) spare the life of Nazanin and release her from prison or b) announce a prison sentence of x number of years or c) re-condemn Nazanin for execution or d) ask Nazanin to negotiate "Dieh" (Blood Money) with the family of the alleged rapist and have her released subject to her paying that amount.In the meantime the Nazanin Fatehi Trust fund has been set up to help cover her legal fees and campaign costs. See Donations page.

The fate of Nazanin Fatehi is still up in the air, please continue to spread the word about her case and the plight of other women in similar circumstances such as Delareh Darabi, Kobra Rahmanpour, Ashraf Kalhori, Fatemeh Haghighat-Pajouh and Malak Ghorbani and continue to pressure the Iranian Government to free these women.

From her prison cell, Nazanin Fatehi wanted to thank everyone that has been working so tirelessly on her behalf and everyone who has signed the petition.